Brewer 12.8 cutter, anyone?

[Mirelle]

I had a look at one recently and liked her a lot - reminded me of a Laurent Giles steel cutter that I sailed aboard as a young man. Good arrangement, good gear, I thought.

This particular one had the tall rig and deeper keel.

Would be very interested to hear from anyone with experience of the type, espescially as a longer distance boat. What are the weaknesses? The only thing I spotted was that the ground tackle and windlass seemed a bit light.

Thanks in advance.

[quest]

My wife and I had a Brewer 12.8 for about 12 years. We sold it about 5 years ago. We spent 6 months ever winter living on it in the Bahamas. It is a great cruising boat. It
sails well and is comfortable on long passages and likewise comfortable to live aboard.

Ours was also a cutter with the tall rig. However you mentioned what you were looking at was a deeper keel. I thought all the Brewer 12.8's that were built in the Fort Myers
Shipyard had "about" a 5 foot keel with a centerboard to around 9 feet. The centerboard was our main complaint. In theory and practically it made the boat sail better.
However the design of its operations was miss matched with the loads. Before
discussing centerboards. let me know what you are looking at. Is it a fixed keel or
centerboard. If it is fixed then what is the draft?

We had one of the original 7 Brewer 12.8 that were commissioned to be built in Fort Myers Shipyard from 7 members of the NY Yacht Club. We purchased her from one of the original 7 owners. She came with a custom hard dodger that was designed and built by Jerry Baumgardner who was the Forman of the yard at that time.

Further customizing gave us a 42 foot tall rigged cutter with all sails roller furling and and cockpit controlled. The cockpit had the hard dodger, cloth bimini, and was fully inclosed. It was were we spent the majority of the time. We called it the Florida Room.

You mentioned long distance cruising. A Brewer 12.8 can do that job in comfort. I have made 3 Atlantic crossing. And I purchased our Brewer 12.8 with the knowledge that it can be a perfect long distance cruiser. I had made an earlier passage on a CSY 44 before acquiring our Brewer. It was also a Cutter, full roller furling including the main. A comfortable center cockpit with full enclosure where the 4 of use spent all our time off watch. The Brewer has that also. That's why we bought her.

By now my rambling might have given away my age. I am, a tad over 70. After a little bit of subtraction I have over 60 years of sailing experience.

I have never responded to a Blog, or Thread. I am not sure if this will even get to you. I could provide more info through the phone. How do we do that? Your question on a Brewer 12.8 prompted us to respond.

quest

[elawson]

You are interested in an outstanding, comfortable cruising boat. I helped deliver some of the original boats from Florida to their owners in the New York area. The Brewer 12.8 is an off-shoot of the Whitby 42 and came about in the early 80's when a small group of experienced sailors approaching their retirement years wanted a comfortable cruising boat that could be easily handled by a couple, but could accommodate more if desired. The group really liked the roomy interior layout of the Whitby 42 but felt it was somewhat lacking in performance characteristics. They went to Ted Brewer and after a series of planning meetings, Mr. Brewer incorporated a number of recommended improvements in the basic design, and the result was the 12.8, which is 42' long. The redesigned boat was contracted for construction with Fort Myers yacht and Shipbuilding in Fort Myers, FL, and a run of about 12 boats was constructed for the original group. The boat was successful enough that the builders continued construction, and eventually came up with a third generation (Brewer 44), which was very similar to the 12.8, but had a modified transom, which extend the LOA by 2 feet.

The boats have proved very successful, with very little turnover by the original owners. At least one of the boats has cruised around the world, and off-shore passages between New England and the Caribbean were common. I would strongly recommend the boat as a great, comfortable, well-constructed cruiser that has excellent sailing ability. I very nearly bought one of the boats from an original owner and would highly recommend the design as it is easy to sail, very comfortable, and very seaworthy.

Andy Radel
aroco@verizon.net